TASI Lectures on Gravitational Waves from the Early Universe

Abstract

These lectures discuss how the direct detection of gravitational waves can be used to probe the very early Universe. We review the main cosmological mechanisms which could have produced relic gravitational waves, and compare theoretical predictions with capabilities and time scales of current and upcoming experiments.

arXiv comment37 pages, 8 figures; typos corrected

Cited by in corpus (9)

• The stochastic gravitational wave background from turbulence and magnetic fields generated by a first-order phase transition
• Cosmological Backgrounds of Gravitational Waves and eLISA/NGO: Phase Transitions, Cosmic Strings and Other Sources
• The basics of gravitational wave theory
• Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background from Coalescing Binary Black Holes
• Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background from Cosmological Supernovae
• Steep Inflation followed by Born-Infeld Reheating
• Precision cosmology with primordial GW backgrounds in presence of astrophysical foregrounds
• Relic gravitational waves in the expanding Universe
• Mini Black Holes and the Relic Gravitational Waves Spectrum